History

9:49 am

Fri November 15, 2013

Ashland Police Raid Opium Joints in 1913

On the weekend of April 19, l913, six noisy people from nearby Medford were disturbing the peace in the neighborhood of the Imperial rooming house on Fourth Street in Ashland, Ore. A city councilman who lived nearby called the police who sent Night Officer Porter, Special Officer Bert Turner, and Councilman Sherman to arrest everyone, including C. Woodburn, the proprietor. The police found two complete opium smoking sets.

The accused deposited $50 bail at the police station. When they said their drugs came from Jim Ling, the police sought a search warrant for the Second Street rooms of Ling, who was cooking at the Oregon Hotel at the time. Next police raided a number of Ashland and Medford rooming houses, and found more opium pipes and a supply of opium. Ling and another man were jailed with the rooming house proprietor. Ling, a member of the Chinese Hop See Tong group, first came to Ashland as a servant of a pioneer family. He had been indicted earlier on a charge of stabbing Wah Lee, a Medford laundry man, and for keeping a young woman as an opium slave.